Legacy tip: how to isolate and send just a branch of the family tree in an email

Geoff Rasmussen

25 Mar 2009

Question from Jerry,

"I wish to email my cousin one branch of my family history. How do I isolate the one branch and send in an email?"

Our answer:

Good question Jerry. First you would need to decide what specifically you want to send to your cousin. Do you want to:

send a GEDCOM file so they can import the data into their genealogy computer program
create some kind of report that only shows the branch they are interested in

I'm guessing that you want to send a GEDCOM. The easiest way to do this is to create a Focus Group. Please follow these instructions….

Creating the Focus Group and GEDCOM file

Go to File > Export to > GEDCOM file.
Click on the Record Selection button in the lower left.
Click in the circle next to "Selected records contained in the Focus Group", then click on the View/Select Focus Group button.
Using the 6 buttons at the bottom of this screen, add the desired individuals to the focus group. When you are done, click OK.
The "View/Select Focus Group" button's text should now be red. Click Close. The phrase to the right of the Record Selection button should now read "Focus Group records".
Click on the "Select File Name and Start Export" button in the upper right.
Type the desired name of the GEDCOM, and navigate to the folder in which you want to save the GEDCOM. (Remember where you save this so you can attach it to an email later.) Click Save.
Enter the compiler information and click OK.

Now, using your email software, write your message and attach the GEDCOM file (the file will end with the .ged extension). Happy hunting!

Comments (9)

Whilst a Focus Group is one way to select the records of people to transfer, for very large files there is another way!
Provided you are using the “paid-up” version of Legacy, you can use “Advanced tagging” to select a particular branch of your file. For example, the ancestry of your daughter-in-law so she can share this with her siblings, without the clutter of all the people she married into!
Select the “root” person (in this case the d-in-law) and then enter “advanced tagging” – choose a tag number for the export (I always use Tag9) and first untag Tag9 for everyone. Then tag the ancestor side of the selected individual including all spouses and children etc.
It is also useful to go to the top of the tree and tag descendants to “mop up” side branches.
Finally, export the Legacy file to another, selecting only the Tag9 individuals, and then open the new Legacy file to make sure there are no missing branches and no individuals you wanted to omit. A little manual editing may be needed here.
At this stage you can choose to export again as a GEDCOM if the destination genealogist uses a different software program for their records.

Judy – see the “Sharing Your Legacy Electronically” article published on April 6, 2009.

Jill – to do this, just click on the .pdf or .rtf option for that report. The report can then be emailed. Actually, this is detailed in the April 6, 2009 article entitled “Sharing Your Legacy Electronically.”

Many family members cannot open a GEDCOM file. How can I send a report in document style?

So what if I needed to just send a report, not a gedcom? How would I do that?

Leonard – good question. This is what I would do. I would first export a focus group (of the small branch) to a new Legacy family file. Then create a backup of the data and multimedia of the new, smaller Legacy file and send that to the relative. Actually, before sending them the backup I would also set the relationships, starting with the relative, and add a quick-bookmark for the relative.

I would like to email a branch with Legacy files and pictures.
I want my cousin to use Legacy and see it the same way I do with all the pictures, colors, relationships, customs setting, etc….
I am thinking that the backups for data and media contain all of the configuration information and would give me everything. From my complete data file, I can create a smaller database for a branch of my family tree.
What are the steps for creating a media backup with only the information that is needed for the branch?

A great tip, thank you! I sometimes need or want to send very small segments to people in response to inquiries or with my inquiry to them and it sounds like this will help me out a lot.

Another method of doing this is by the use of Tags. BY assigning a Tag to relevant branches you can then use this to also quickly select a group.
An added benefit of this is to then include the showing of specific Tags you use in the INdex display and you can immediately see which part of you family tree an individual belongs to.

MM
Michael Miller

15 years ago

Whilst a Focus Group is one way to select the records of people to transfer, for very large files there is another way!
Provided you are using the “paid-up” version of Legacy, you can use “Advanced tagging” to select a particular branch of your file. For example, the ancestry of your daughter-in-law so she can share this with her siblings, without the clutter of all the people she married into!
Select the “root” person (in this case the d-in-law) and then enter “advanced tagging” – choose a tag number for the export (I always use Tag9) and first untag Tag9 for everyone. Then tag the ancestor side of the selected individual including all spouses and children etc.
It is also useful to go to the top of the tree and tag descendants to “mop up” side branches.
Finally, export the Legacy file to another, selecting only the Tag9 individuals, and then open the new Legacy file to make sure there are no missing branches and no individuals you wanted to omit. A little manual editing may be needed here.
At this stage you can choose to export again as a GEDCOM if the destination genealogist uses a different software program for their records.
GR
Geoff Rasmussen

15 years ago

Judy – see the “Sharing Your Legacy Electronically” article published on April 6, 2009.
GR
Geoff Rasmussen

15 years ago

Jill – to do this, just click on the .pdf or .rtf option for that report. The report can then be emailed. Actually, this is detailed in the April 6, 2009 article entitled “Sharing Your Legacy Electronically.”
JH
Jill Hyde Wood

15 years ago

Many family members cannot open a GEDCOM file. How can I send a report in document style?
JB
Judy Bingham

15 years ago

So what if I needed to just send a report, not a gedcom? How would I do that?
GR
Geoff Rasmussen

15 years ago

Leonard – good question. This is what I would do. I would first export a focus group (of the small branch) to a new Legacy family file. Then create a backup of the data and multimedia of the new, smaller Legacy file and send that to the relative. Actually, before sending them the backup I would also set the relationships, starting with the relative, and add a quick-bookmark for the relative.
LP
Leonard Plaizier

15 years ago

I would like to email a branch with Legacy files and pictures.
I want my cousin to use Legacy and see it the same way I do with all the pictures, colors, relationships, customs setting, etc….
I am thinking that the backups for data and media contain all of the configuration information and would give me everything. From my complete data file, I can create a smaller database for a branch of my family tree.
What are the steps for creating a media backup with only the information that is needed for the branch?
SS
S. Shepard

15 years ago

A great tip, thank you! I sometimes need or want to send very small segments to people in response to inquiries or with my inquiry to them and it sounds like this will help me out a lot.
SR
Stephen Rowe

15 years ago

Another method of doing this is by the use of Tags. BY assigning a Tag to relevant branches you can then use this to also quickly select a group.
An added benefit of this is to then include the showing of specific Tags you use in the INdex display and you can immediately see which part of you family tree an individual belongs to.